One Love
by PurplePatchwork
Summary: Michael is attending a pride parade, and Jeremy asks to come with. He soon finds out the flags aren't the only thing rainbow-coloured.


"Um, Michael? What do those colours mean?"

Jeremy was currently sitting on Michael's bed in their shared dorm room, watching as the other pulled a brightly-coloured shirt over his head, the cloth catching on his glasses for a moment before slipping down all the way. Michael sent his friend a curious look before twisting around, giving the other a clear view on the striped heart adorning the back of his shirt.

"It's the gay pride flag, Jer! If I'm going to this parade, I wanna go all out."

Jeremy nodded a bit owlishly. He really knew jack-all about any of this. And he still felt stupid for not realising it sooner.

Jeremy had only found out a short while ago that his best friend was gay. His best friend, whom he'd known for ages, with whom he had shared both hardships and victories, who knew pretty much all of his secrets. _"How long have you known?"_ he'd asked, to which Michael had shrugged and answered, _"A while. Long enough to be sure."_

Jeremy was supposed to know these kinds of things, even if Michael had told him it wasn't a big deal, Michael didn't blame him for not knowing. _"But I do blame myself if you'd felt like you_ couldn't _tell me."_ To which Michael had shaken his head, offered a grim smile. _"Don't worry about it, Jer. We're cool."_

Jeremy hadn't pushed him anymore after that, but he had taken it upon himself to start paying better attention. Especially after everything that had happened in high school. Michael being gay also made a lot of things make sense all of a sudden. How he'd never shown any interest in girls, for example. How he loved wearing rainbows somewhere on his outfit. And how he always got very excited when pride month rolled around, as was the case right now. Really, anyone else would have noticed by now. Jeremy was just that obtuse.

Present Jeremy was bouncing his leg, leaning back on Michael's bed. His own bed was just across the room, but somehow he always found himself diverging to this side, to Michael's side. It was always the exact right mix of cosily messy and clean enough to lounge in without feeling like you were becoming one with the conversion of dirty clothes and course material, as was the case with Jeremy's bed. No matter how hard he tried to keep it clean, every time he turned his back, new piles of trash seemed to materialise out of thin air.

"Does everyone wear their flag at the parade?" Jeremy asked, watching as Michael stuffed some Mountain Dew and candy bars into a backpack to stay hydrated and energised during the day.

"There's no dress-code," Michael said, tip of his pink tongue peeking out while he rummaged through the bag. "But a lot of people wear flags or rainbows or flashy colours. Last year I saw someone in a unicorn suit!"

"No way," Jeremy laughed. "Would you go as a unicorn?"

Michael snorted. "I'd sooner go as a giant bong." He was smiling brightly, something that warmed Jeremy's heart. He liked that Michael was able to talk to him so easily about these things now. After the initial awkwardness had passed, right after Michael had come out to him. One day they were still learning how to deal with each other, now that this new knowledge had been shared between them, carefully avoiding the other in a seemingly orchestrated dance. But after talking to Christine, Jeremy had shown up with slushies, asking if they could play some games, and everything was chill after that.

He'd asked Christine out for lunch that day, the day Michael told him. He and Christine had already broken up a while before that, but still remained friends. It wasn't a bad breakup or anything, things had just kind of cooled down when high school ended. Having Christine as a girlfriend had been nice, very nice, but Jeremy had to admit to himself that he was totally fine with being just friends when she proposed this change in their relationship. Maybe he'd always figured it wouldn't last, maybe their shared experience with the SQUIP had made them understand each other a little too well. Jeremy couldn't tell, but he also didn't spend sleepless nights mulling it over.

" _So Michael told me something important today."_

" _Oh, finally!"_

" _Wait, you knew?"_

" _Jer, half the school knew. He wasn't exactly subtle about it."_

"…"

" _Really, I'm surprised he didn't tell you any sooner. But I'm happy for you two! Make sure you get your feelings across to him too, all right?"_

Which meant that Jeremy was really the most inobservant person of the world.

"So, Rich is picking you up?"

"Yup. He should be here any moment."

Jeremy supposed it should have also rung a bell when Michael started hanging out a lot more with Rich after he figured out he was bi. Not that that had to mean too much, seeing as Jeremy was hanging out a lot more with him too, albeit for different reasons. They didn't see their high school friends that often, not now that they were all college students, but Michael and him did see a lot more of the others than they would have had the SQUIP incident not happened. Which was at least one good thing to come out of that clusterfuck.

Jeremy sucked in his lip, letting it slip out with a wet plop. "So uh, Rich. He's bi."

Michael raised an eyebrow at him, as if he was asking himself if Jeremy was only now figuring that out, notwithstanding the fact that Rich had actually _told_ him, face-to-face.

Jeremy pulled at a loose thread on his sleeve. "Do you…did you two ever—"

"Sweet Jesus Jer, no! He's not my type. Like, at all." Michael frowned. "It's not because I'm gay that I go around flirting with every guy who might be interested in hooking up with another guy."

Jeremy held up his hands, shame tainting his cheeks. "Sorry. I didn't wanna assume, I just thought…sorry."

Michael rolled his eyes. "It's okay, dude. Don't get hung up about it."

Jeremy _did_ feel relieved. Probably because Michael wasn't hiding anything else. It was one thing being gay and not saying anything about it, but being gay and having a boyfriend and _then_ not saying anything about it? That would hurt. A lot.

Michael slung his backpack over a shoulder. "Okay. I'm ready to go. I'll be back for dinner, we still up for pizza?"

Jeremy was about to answer in the affirmative, when something different altogether left his mouth. "Can I come too?"

Michael blinked, and the two boys stared at each other for a moment.

Jeremy didn't exactly know why he'd asked. Probably just curiosity. About the parade, but mostly about Michael when combined with the parade. This was a big part of Michael's life, after all. A part that always managed to put a huge grin to his face, made him excited beyond all reason. And Jeremy wanted to join in the fun, wanted to be included in this part of Michael's life. Even if he didn't belong there…

But Michael was already grinning, eyes shimmering. "I mean, if you want to come, sure! There's always room for more. I didn't know you wanted to, otherwise I would have invited you before."

Jeremy stood up, nervously clasping his hands, heart suddenly aflutter. "I'd like to come very much."

~o~

Rich only made a brief comment when Jeremy showed up by Michael's side at Rich's car, but before Jeremy could ask him what he meant by "About time", Michael had already switched the topic to what great weather they had today and weren't they lucky? Must be a gay blessing or something.

Jake was in the car too, switching between hugging the back of his seat to talk to the two sitting behind him and chatting up Rich, briefly touching his arm or rubbing his shoulder or holding his hand whenever he got the chance. They hadn't been together for that long, but already they looked like an old married couple. An old married couple with a set of sailor mouths, but that somehow made it all even more right.

Michael kept glancing Jeremy's way whenever he thought he wasn't looking. Jeremy felt even more stupid now, for not having figured out sooner. Had he known how happy his friend would be to have him by his side on this day, he would've joined a lot sooner.

"And you're sure it's okay for me to be there?" Jeremy asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Rich said, looking for a spot to park his car. "You're here to have fun with your boyfriend, right?"

"Boyfriend?" Jeremy asked, frown pulling down his brow.

Michael's laugh was a little strained. "He's just joking, Jer. Ignore him." He sent a look of scorching lightning at Rich, who seemed to pull some kind of meaning from it, because after that he quickly began laughing as well.

A huge crowd of brightly painted people was already present, different kinds of music blasting through the speakers of separate floats, all with their own theme. Jeremy had been pondering what Rich meant by "boyfriend" when they exited the car, but soon found it hard to focus on his own thoughts, what with everything happening all around him. He would have felt lost had he come here alone, but now he could happily tag along with the others.

"There's so many people," Jeremy noted, voice filled with awe as he tried to take it all in.

"Right?" Michael put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. Jeremy could practically feel the other vibrating in his enthusiasm. "And they're all here for the same goal: to celebrate! Wait, this calls for Marley."

"Michael, there's enough music already—" Rich began, but Michael couldn't be deterred, blasting an all-time fave from his phone. He was simply unstoppable today, ecstatic, rhapsodic. And he kept sending Jeremy these overjoyed looks, as if his presence made today even better. Which of course made Jeremy feel happy as well; Michael's joy was contagious. Michael could get very excited over the things he loved, but this was a whole new side Jeremy was only now seeing. It was kinda cute. Well, excited Michael was cute, period.

The parade was starting, so they quickly looked for a place where they could march to their heart's content (and in Michael's case, show off some dance moves). Jeremy was almost sure Michael had somehow bribed the owner of the float in front of them to blast reggae, but Michael swore it was just a coincidence. A rainbow-coloured coincidence that constantly blasted confetti into the air.

There were endless rows of people standing on the sidewalks, cheering, handing out pink-frosted cupcakes and extra bottles of water, spectators leaning out their windows to wave all kinds of pride flags. It was exhilarating, just being here, walking among the throngs of elated (and some of them, already tipsy) masses.

He turned around to look at Rich and Jake, but suddenly noticed it was just him and Michael. "Hey, where did the other guys go?"

"Huh?" Michael had just put a bottle to his lips, but now he quickly spun around, walking backwards for just a moment, before facing front again, resigned expression on his face. "They're probably…around."

Jeremy clacked his tongue. "Not cool. They came here with us, we should stick together."

Michael shrugged. "It's cool. Besides, we got each other, right?"

Michael smiled at him, and all Jeremy could do was smile back. He was right. As long as they had each other's backs, nothing could go wrong. Besides, he'd come here for Michael, and Michael didn't seem to care too much that they had just been ditched, so he supposed it really was all right. Just like old times, Jeremy and Michael against the world, amidst the thrill of this frabjous day.

Jeremy's heartrate accelerated when Michael grabbed his hand, gave a quick squeeze. Must be a combination of too much sugar and too much noise. After all, he was used to Michael touching him, embracing, fist-bumps, their elaborate greeting already involving physical contact. And Jeremy knew he wasn't a homophobe, so it definitely wasn't aversion that suddenly made him nervous when Michael flashed that dazzling grin, all contentment, like a cat finding a nice spot to nap in the middle of winter, before quickly looking away, retracting his hand.

They continued walking, remaining silent for a bit, simply enjoying their surroundings. Some people were being helped on top of the reggae music float to dance. Michael didn't ask, but Jeremy knew he wanted to join. Jeremy pulled at his sleeve. "Come on, let's go too."

"You sure? A lot more people will be looking at us then."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "You really think I'm gonna have a problem with _that_ after volunteering to come here? You might not get this chance again." As if on cue, the next song was one of Marley's. Michael didn't need any more persuasion after that. He was a man on a mission now.

They were helped up by a very relaxed-looking guy (Jeremy recognised the smell on his breath, he'd hung out in Michael's basement far too many times to know that this wasn't incense). The guy leant in close, giggling. "You and your boyfriend are very cute!" he told Jeremy's neck, gaze drooping further still.

Michael laughed awkwardly. "Oh no, he's not my—"

Jeremy slung and arm around his waist, drawing him closer. "Yeah, he is cute, isn't he?"

The guy giggled some more before wandering off, sashaying to the beat as Michael turned a bright red.

"Y-you didn't have to do that," he said, but Jeremy shrugged.

"Figured it'd be easier to just say we're together than having to explain to everyone that I'm only a tourist."

That was only partially true. In fact, he had also just wanted to try how it would sound, to call Michael his boyfriend. The cute-bit he already knew to be true, after all (not that he'd call himself cute). Not that he wanted Michael to be his boyfriend, at least, he didn't think he wanted to. The thought had never occurred to him.

But still.

As they were surrounded by mildly intoxicated teens and up, some of them slow-dancing, others yelling happily at their onlookers and asking for song requests, he noticed how happy he felt, just being here, by Michael's side, holding him, looking at the cute pink that crept onto his face, not letting go. Something seemed so right about it all, something indescribable. How Michael shyly averted his gaze, cheek bulging to indicate a happy smile nonetheless. This _was_ a special occasion, but still, Jeremy felt he didn't want to let this moment pass by.

If he could freeze time and snap a picture, it would be of this exact moment. The moment in which someone popped another batch of rainbow-coloured confetti right behind them, of Michael looking back at him, eyes big and shiny behind his glasses. Rich's comment shot through his mind again, "boyfriends". He probably meant him and Michael. After all, even back in high school, before they were friends, Rich used to tease them about their closeness. Intimacy. More than.

"Michael, how did you figure out you were gay?" Jeremy suddenly asked, having to raise his voice to be heard over all the tumult.

Michael was laughing again, eyes shifting away. "I already told you, didn't I? It was back in high school."

Jeremy shook his head. "I'm not asking _when_ , I'm asking _how_."

Michael blushed. Jeremy leant in a little.

"Michael, how _did_ you figure it out."

Michael's mouth opened, but no sound came out. Even though they weren't anywhere quiet, the outside noise suddenly seemed to be muted, reverted to the background, deemed unimportant. Jeremy could almost hear Michael swallow, breathing picking up ever so slightly.

"You really wanna know?" Michael asked finally, gaze defiant, bold. Close. So close.

Jeremy was still holding onto him, but now moved his hands down, taking hold of Michael's own. Almost immediately, Michael retaliated by lacing their fingers together. His eyelids drooped and he shivered, even though it wasn't cold, not at all.

Back in high school. Both a reasonable amount of time ago and far, far too long. Too long to wait for your stupidly dense best friend to figure things out.

Jeremy would be lying if he said he'd never noticed how beautiful Michael's eyes were. He had just never connected the dots.

Michael let out a small sound, something between a sigh and a gasp, when Jeremy hesitantly leant in further. Their foreheads touched before their lips did. Right there. Picture-perfect.

It was only after they drew away that the cheers became audible again. Jeremy's stomach turned 360 degrees at the realisation that they had been on display to the world. Still, it was hard to worry about anything with how blissfully happy Michael was looking right now, expression dazed, subdued, as if he'd been storing up an enormous amount of energy and had only now found an outlet. Finally.

Jeremy's face felt warm as well, especially when Michael moved in again. Now that he'd been given a go-ahead, he wasn't going to wait any longer.

After another couple of kisses, some of them seeming to last at least a decade, Jeremy finally had the chance to pull away long enough to apologise.

"What are you saying sorry for?" Michael asked, sounding a little hoarse. There was rainbow confetti stuck in his hair. Jeremy hadn't even noticed that someone hung a pride flag over his back. Fitting.

"For everything. For not knowing sooner. For making you wait this long. For being such a dick." He struggled to find the words. "I mean, before today, I didn't know—but you just, it clicked, and—"

"Jer," Michael said, squeezing his hand. "It's fine. We're here now, and everything's perfect. Let's just enjoy the moment, okay?"

Jeremy smiled. "Okay. We can talk more over pizza?"

"Deal."

And as they began slowly moving around to another Marley song, neither of them noticed Jake and Rich on the float behind them, one smug, the other sourly handing over a five-dollar bill.


End file.
